In 1763, Aḥmad Shāh Durrānī sent an embassy to the Qianlong emperor. The envoy caused offence by refusing to prostrate himself. Still, the Qing court fêted his embassy. It seemed the beginning of a promising relationship, but the two empires never had contact again. The Qing court presented the embassy as a tributary mission, but in the pragmatic world of Qing frontier policy, contact with the Durrānīs was deliberately avoided. Why did no relationship develop? This attitude stemmed from Qianlong’s distrust of Central Asian rulers, and his understanding of the Afghans not as a tributary, but a rival imperial power.

中文翻译：

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“不向天低头吗？”：清杜兰尼初遇、朝贡不交、边疆混乱

1763年，艾哈迈德·沙阿·杜兰尼向乾隆皇帝派出使者。使者拒绝跪拜，惹人生气。尽管如此，清廷还是宴请了他的使馆。这似乎是一段充满希望的关系的开始，但两个帝国再也没有接触过。清廷将大使馆视为朝贡使团，但在清朝边疆政策的务实世界中，刻意避免与杜兰尼家族的接触。为什么没有发展出关系？这种态度源于乾隆对中亚统治者的不信任，他并不把阿富汗人视为朝贡国，而是一个敌对的皇权。